After using Blogmeister since 2005 I've decided to try Kidblog with my students. I feel a bit sad moving but I wanted to try something that had a different way to look at and organize student work. I'm going to miss the Blogmeister Yahoo group and all the support that has been given there. We can be found at [LINK]

I’m not sure what to write so i’m going to write about why I don’t understand the point of blogs. I don’t understand the point of blogs,is it to make sure you were listening in class on how to make them. Or is it just to give us more homework? Or to make sure we know how to do google docs,or just as a punishment for not doing journal,who knows?(besides Mr. Garrison)

I found it rather sad and I had to ask myself whether we had spent enough time discussing why we were blogging. Did I forget to mention that blogs were the students own space to decorate however they wanted and choose topics that they wanted to write about? Did we not discuss that students would have an audience to read and comment on their writing each week, not just a teacher grading them? Is the problem that students don't care about publishing online with their writing being available for anyone to read? Why are we writing? Is communication of your ideas not important?

Is part of the problem that many of you have gotten used to complaining and pushing back against having to writing on certain topics? So when it comes to having freedom to pursue learning and sharing about what you are interested in you don't know what to say. I see a lot of talking in class and to me writing a blog should be an extension of those discussions. This morning with the change to daylight savings time there was a lot of discussion about how the time change affected you, is anyone writing about this? Did you know that today is one of the most dangerous days of the year?

As we start out the year with the blogs many of you have gotten off to a good start sharing articles which compel the reader to respond. Make sure to share what you are passionate about and the reader will feel the same.

Here is a list of some of the comment starters we talked about. Please leave comments on other ideas you might have.

So far I'm seeing a very good range of articles. Students this year have a wide range of interests and ideas to write about. There a couple of things I want share. First, make sure if you write a non-fiction article in which you've read a Scholastic News article or web site on a topic that you include where you read the information so that we can see the source. If you write about our Scholastic News you can use the website to link directly to the articles. For instance if you wrote about 9/11 and that is where you found your info, you would also want to link to the website at [LINK]

This way another student can read further about the topic. Otherwise I'm very excited about what I've read so far.

As I completed the Hello Kitty image that Mrs. Lin had started I thought it was funny that so many students said it was wrong to paint the face blue. Here was an image that was hand drawn and not done by the original artist and students were telling me that it had to be a certain way. What was the reason behind this? Students have been all the time copying images that they didn't create and not crediting the artist or photographer that created the image and yet somehow I heard complaints for what I was doing. Why aren't more students complaining everytime another student uses an image that they just copy and paste into there work and make it seem it is there own? Is there some connections or associations with using blue when many times I see the image in pink? A last thought that always occurs to me as well everytime I see this image, I wonder is the cat happy or sad?

For this assignment you will be sharing a description about your sock bunny and then embedding the picture into your article. You will be writing you article in Chinese and adding the picture. Assignment:

Describe why your sock bunny, its name and why it looks the way it does.

Describe its character traits in its actions with others.

What does you sock bunny do and what happens in a typical day?

Does your bunny have mythical traits, is it friendly, do you get along with you sock bunny? Each of your bunnies are your unique creation. Remember that we as readers need help to understand the complex personality and history of your creation.

As we start out the year with the blogs many of you have gotten off to a good start sharing articles which compel the reader to respond. Make sure to share what you are passionate about and the reader will feel the same.

Here is a list of some of the comment starters we talked about. Please leave comments on other ideas you might have.

I was on a trip with my family through the South of Texas. We usually visited my uncle and the weather would be so hot averaging 100 degrees with humidity. I spent all my time in air conditioned houses, and they would smell because the filters and flow of air would be stale. People would smoke and the smells would mix with the stale air and make me wish that I could go outside. People had whatever type of air conditioning machine they could afford. When driving around in cars with the windows up tight it was the same experience and the cold air chilled the dash boards and the vents would feel cold to the touch.

We saw the parking lot before we saw the stadium. It was a big dome to my eyes, but it didn't have any distinguishing or unique qualities to its appearance. We watched a game between the Houston Astros, who were named after the NASA space center in Houston. As I was growing up we would stop at space centers in Houston, Florida, and a tracking station in Mexico. I thought that there would always be space travel and that there would always be missions to the moon and people exploring there.

We pulled into the huge parking lot which encircled the stadium because it wasn't near anything. The parking lot was hot as the sun reflected off the black asphault and waves of heat made cars in the distance seem rubbery and moving.

Inside the stadium the air was 72 and still. The Astros were playing the Philidelphia Philies and I was given a free patch as I walked in the door. The ceiling let the light in and there were large lights lighting the field as well. The distance between the walls was immense and the players were tiny along with a tiny ball. When someone hit the ball the sound carried and made the emptiness of the stadium stand out. There were not that many people there as the Astros were not a very good team and the baseball surface was made of astroturf and was fake grass. It looked like the lines were painted on the surface and the ball seemed to bounce higher than a real grass lawn because the surface was hard. At some point of the game someone hit a home run and the score board flashed and lit up. The game ended and we went home. It was my first time in an indoor stadium.

I decided that watching indoors baseball was interesting but I'm not sure if I would want to always watch my games this way. Just like many of the places and rooms I was in I always wanted some feeling of fresh air but going outside wasn't anymore comfortable than being indoors. I was glad I didn't grow up in Texas.

I'm sure someone thought it would be cool to build an indoor stadium and make it modern and make people feel like it didn't matter where they were or what time it is. I don't think they realized that people don't necessarily enjoy being in a place where everything is fake, especially when they come to an event just so they can enjoy the real weather, the real sight of grass and the real feeling of wind against their cheeks. I like feeling that I'm in some place where I can smell the outdoors and feel the sunlight on my face. If the weather at a baseball game is cold than I enjoy the wind blowing over me and I wear a coat. And if the weather is hot than I wear a t-shirt and drink cold coke, eat peanuts and enjoy the big green patch of grass.